The Royal Armouries

Charity information

The Royal Armouries

Acknowledged as on of the world's finest museums of arms and armour, Royal Armouries holds in trust for the British nation one of the greatest and most comprehensive collections ever assembled - a treasure of international importance. With over 80,000 objects ranging from the royal armours of the Kings of England to an armour of the first Shogun of Japan, the collection spans not only the history of arms and armour in Britain but also its development across the globe. Royal Armouries' roots stretch back 900 years, making it one of the world's oldest museums with a collection that contains weapons from the Bronze Age right up to those supplied by today's armed forces.

This magnificent collection is housed in three museums in the United Kingdom: its original home in the iconic White Tower, the Tower of London; Fort Nelson, a Victorian Fort in Hampshire which houses our extensive artillery collection; and our purpose-built flagship museum in Leeds.

The history of the world can be told through the conflicts that have shaped nations and created empires, and within that we have thousands of human stories to tell: tales about events that have shaped the course of history, about epoch-changing technologies derived from war that now form part of our daily lives, about the horrors of conflict and the joy of peace.

As a national museum, we have a duty to preserve and share our collections, interpret them for as wide an audience as possible and ensure that our millions of visitors are engaged and entertained.